Dispelling nutrition myths, ranting, and occasionally, raving

No, the USPS is not going to end food insecurity

I know that I, and many others, have said it before (and I’m sure we’ll all say it again) but as long as there are articles like this coming out, it needs to be said that food charity is not the solution to food insecurity.

I’m certain that the students who came up with the idea of the United States Postal Service delivering food that would otherwise be thrown out to food banks and meal programs across the country was well-meaning. This may also help to reduce food waste, but it won’t decrease rates of food insecurity.

For those who haven’t read any of my ranting on food insecurity before, and who aren’t familiar with the subject, food insecurity is “the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints”. Food insecurity can mean not having enough food to eat, not knowing if you’ll be able to afford to eat tomorrow, not having access to safe nutritious food. It’s not a constant state. A person may be food insecure at certain times of month, certain times of the week, certain points of the year, or for periods throughout their lifetime. An important part of the definition to note is the “financial constraints“. Food insecurity is caused by inadequate income and no amount of donated food is going to solve that.

We may feel good about donating food or money to help others who are in need. There’s nothing wrong with that. But we need to stop kidding ourselves into believing that we’re fixing poverty and food insecurity through charity. The real solution to these problems is systemic change. It’s things like a basic income, living wages, increased social benefits, decreased precarious employment.

Trying to solve the problem of food waste is admirable but let’s not conflate the issue of food waste with food security.